The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1887-02-08
SHOOTING AN OIL WELL.
Curious SpcctaclcS Incident to Natural
Gas I'r"ductiou-DnnEcro Morlk.

Gas Observation-Disclosures Work.
For two hours recently stood in q
: bleak wind to witness tho process Of
''shootipg' an oil we'll. This is accom-
p!ished by letting down with strong
wire, on Il windlass, tin tubes about three
inches in diameter and fourteen feet long,
filled with hnitro-glyccrinc. Each Of these
tubes will hold about twenty quarts of
the liquid. IF the blast il to be made ut
the bottom of tho well, then the first can
or tube is let down to rest upon the bot
ton. but it the stratum of rocks which it
; Is desired to ''shoot" bo above the bottom,
as is frequently the case, then smaller
tubes arc fastened upon the first charged
tuCe foS support. These may be thirty
or fifty feet long. or even more. Tho
lower end Of this tube, of course, rests on
the bottom of the we'll, and sustains the
| charged tubes, which are carefully let
down one upon tho other until sixty,
eighty. or even hundred quarts are thus
deposited. In doing this every move
mcnt must he made with tho utmost caro-,
and is attended with great danger.
The liquid weighs about four pounds
to tho quart, hence great weight must
be provided for. On tho upper end of the
toptnost tube an explosive cap is placed.
The charge is exploded by dropping NJ,
iron slug. called, in the nomenclature of
the Gil country, ''go devil" Cautious
persons keep at good distance. Tho
operator gives tho alarm and let's the slug
drop. In a well 1000 feet deep, filed
with gas or oil. the weight may bo TWEEN
ty or even twenty-five seconds in de-
scending. If the we'll is clear of course
its ddsccnt is more rapid. The first SEN
sation one feels Is heavy thud, like the
dropping OF great weight on the rocks.
The next a trembling Of the ground, and
then rushing roar, followed by a hoarse,
weird, prolonged whistle, ending in a
slight explosion, and stream Of sand,
oil, water. pulverized Ego devil" and
tubes, and black gas goes shrieking into
tho Sir in dense column 100 feet or
moro, and all is over.
If tha blast is an effective one it is i'm
medintely followed by a flow of oil or
gas. Often a dead and worthless we'll
will at once begin to flow after tho shock.
Ono well near Butler that was dead and
thought worthless was awakened to ac-
tivity by e heavy blast and rewarded the
owner with flow Of TOO barrels of oil
daily.
A sixty quart blast costs the owner of
tho we'll about 500 including tho labor
of placing it. This labor, as has been
said, is attended with great danger.
Sometiracs, when the we'll ia full of gas,
the torpedo, after descending few hun
drcd feet, will be driven violently out of
the well. In that case it is certain to cx-
plode by hitting the timbers of the der
rick or when it reaches the ground in it's
descent. In either case general destruc-
ton Of everything is certain.
Sometimes, upon the explosion of a
torpedo in well, largo volume of oil is
thrown into the air. This Is often sight
OF surprising beauty, the oil breaking as
it falls into countless drops and each drop
becoming prism to reflect the suns rays
in matchless coloring.
So far the gas wells and oil wells are
treated alike.-Chicago Tribune.